The Cost Of A Disgruntled Team To A Business

If an employee doesn’t enjoy their job, there’s always the danger that they will become a less productive member of staff. The knock-on effect of this is if multiple staff members feel this way, it can be felt on the entire operations of a business and lead to a loss of profits. There may be times when employers attempt to counter this issue by recruiting new staff, but this can incur additional costs to a business as well.

Join us as we look at the true cost of an unhappy workforce on a company, as well as what employers can be doing to establish a positive workplace environment that benefits both the business and its members of staff…

What effects does this have on profit margins? Personal Group, a staff services company, discovered that people who were happy with their job were 12% more productive than those who felt negatively about their role. Staff that aren’t satisfied will typically be less enthusiastic and involved — and this disengagement is reportedly costing the UK £85 billion a year in lost productivity, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce report.

Long working hours can also leave staff members feeling negative about their job, which in turn can have a bad impact on how well they perform tasks. A poll carried out by The Hoxby Collective found that 33% of workers said they’d suffered mental health problems directly because of rigid working hours. If your staff are unfit for work, this will cost you. According to estimations by The Centre of Economic and Business Research, absenteeism alone will cost the UK economy £21 billion by 2020, while overworking your staff can also lead to exhaustion and lack of sleep — another contributor of poor productivity levels that costs the UK economy £40.3 billion a year. Consequently, it’s key to create a positive working environment that staff want to get up in the morning and work in if companies want to keep paid sick days to a minimum.

There’s links between low staff morale and feelings of depression too. According to research from the Centre for Mental Health, it costs employers £3.1 billion in staff turnover and £10.6 billion in sickness just to cover mental health problems of staff in the workplace. From implementing staff perks and bonuses to creating a happy, communicative atmosphere; all employers should be investing in lowering the risk of mental health issues for their staff.

Not only might a person’s productivity levels drop, but they may also be more inclined to leave their current job and seek employment elsewhere. The Oxford Economics and Income Protection Providers Unum has calculated that the average amount of replacing a staff member sits at approximately £30,614 — taking into account hiring, lost time, training, and adapting new staff to the workplace culture. Can your business afford to keep covering or taking on new staff?

The development and success of a business therefore has a lot to do with staff morale. Fortunately, there are many initiatives which employers can enforce to boost employee happiness…

How to boost morale in staff

Close to half of employees have thought about leaving their job roles as a result of poor management, according to a survey of 2,000 individuals. As well as this, 39% said they felt undervalued and 30% claimed it was down to development within their role. Are these factors that you can explore as part of a business strategy to improve staff morale?

Worried your company is suffering from poor management and have noticed members of staff leaving their posts on a frequent basis? This should become a core focus for your business. Assess how your supervisors and managers treat and interact with their staff — could they do with having stronger relationships to encourage better communication? If so, consider scheduling a series of corporate days out, such as some fun-filled yet educational ski lessons to help boost collaboration across all of your departments. Alternatively, organise onsite charity fundraisers, staff quizzes or regular nights out to inject a sociable aspect into the corporate environment.

Internal and external training days should both be organised regularly too. Sending your staff on these will not only make them feel valued — another factor of workplace happiness — but should also mean your company will benefit from more knowledgeable and confident business decisions, which should prove lucrative in the long run.

Have you considered giving your members of staff more authority when it comes to their working day as well? This can involve everything from how long it takes to complete a task properly, to how they schedule their day. This level of control and variety will help make workers feel more important and excited for the day ahead, while re-evaluating the time it takes to complete a task will lower the risk of them feeling rushed or stressed, thereby reducing the chance that they will take time off for anxiety-related issues.

Something else that can prove costly to businesses are sick days. Therefore, why not put a focus on employee health? The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence claims that a well-researched and managed wellness plan can reduce sick days by almost a third — which means the expense of covering shifts and reduced productivity levels will go down accordingly, too.

You can witness some excellent results across your business by having a happy group of staff members in your workplace. Show initiative and start implementing positive processes today to ensure that your staff feel happy, secure and valued at work.